SAS emergency responder receives medal for completing six world marathons

A Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) frontline emergency responder has received a prestigious medal after completing six of the world’s major marathons in the past six years.

Lyn Bow, an Ambulance Technician at Livingston, finished the Abbott World Marathon Majors challenge, receiving the Six Star Medal for her impressive feats.

The goal is to complete six world marathons, with Lyn of Uphall, finishing her sixth in March by completing the Tokyo event. She has also completed Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston and New York.

Lyn said: “I applied for the London marathon on the off chance I would be accepted, and it was a first time attempt. After running London, I heard about the Abbott World Major Marathon challenge.

“This is a tough challenge to complete as Boston is a marathon you must qualify for time wise hence why this challenge is so prestige. I completed this challenge in March 2024 finishing in Tokyo.”

As of May this year, only 1,574 people in the whole of the UK have achieved this medal. 

Lyn, a mum of two who joined the Service four years ago, said she began running in 2015 when she started the couch to 5km after having a baby..

She added: “My favourite marathon by far was Tokyo because it was just such a wonderful and interesting place to visit - the food and culture was outstanding. So much to see and do there and the weather was perfect. 

“The big difference between them all would have to be the time difference and how well you accustomed to it before the run. It’s an amazing way to see parts of the world you maybe wouldn’t visit if you weren’t running.  All the major marathons have 50,000 runners plus so they are very busy with people from all over the world and all different ages groups.”

She said her next goal was to run from Glasgow to Edinburgh - 57 miles along the canal - within 15 hours which will the furthest distance she has ever ran. 

Her bucket list marathon would be to run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

SAS Chief Executive Michael Dickson said: “Well done to Lyn for achieving this fantastic milestone of six of the world’s toughest marathons. Amazing dedication from one of our staff members and we wish her all the very best in her next goal of running Glasgow to Edinburgh.”